Aug 5, 2007

Blowin' In The Wind...

Aug. 13, 2007 issue - The controversy over President Bush's warrantless surveillance program took another surprise turn last week when a team of FBI agents, armed with a classified search warrant, raided the suburban Washington home of a former Justice Department lawyer. The lawyer, Thomas M. Tamm, previously worked in Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR)—the supersecret unit that oversees surveillance of terrorist and espionage targets.

The agents seized Tamm's desktop computer, two of his children's laptops and a cache of personal files. Tamm and his lawyer, Paul Kemp, declined any comment. So did the FBI. But two legal sources who asked not to be identified talking about an ongoing case told NEWSWEEK the raid was related to a Justice criminal probe into who leaked details of the warrantless eavesdropping program to the news media. <more>Clarice, how do you feel about sharing that recent award with others?

240 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Corespondence Corner:

Name: Thomas M. TammHometown: Potomac, Maryland USA

"Dear Eric: Is not the administration's position that they would not permit the U.S. Attorney to prosecute a Congressional Contempt referral an implicit admission that they allow politics to impact prosecutions? They are admitting that they would interfere with the independent judgment of a prosecutor on a specific case. I suggest that this is precisely what the firings of the U.S. Attorneys are ultimately about. Yes, they serve at the pleasure of the president, but they do not prosecute at the pleasure of the president. The White House is guilty of taking the blindfold off lady justice, not just covering her breasts. I am a former DOJ lawyer, for what that is worth.?

Attendance is really picking up at end-the-war activities. The planning meeting was full on a Sunday afternoon;)

Kids working locally on the issue have all been extended. They are a great help, they get things done. Another republican rep is turning away from Bush in today's paper. We have many events planned for the summer.

What happens next in bizzaro Bush/Cheney world? I wonder if they realize what the consequences of these kinds of actions will be in the long run.

"Justice Department officials attended at least a dozen political briefings at the White House since 2001, including some meetings led by Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, and others that were focused on election trends prior to the 2006 midterm contest, according to documents released yesterday.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that he did not believe that senior Justice Department officials had attended such briefings. But he clarified his testimony yesterday in a letter to Congress, emphasizing that the briefings were not held at the agency's offices."

Why resent this victim sense of empowerment and desrie to profit from her misfortune? Isn't making lemonade with the lemons you've been given the american way?

Look at Simpson. He was able to convince a jury of his peers that he was the victim of overzealous prosecution.He got away with double murder. And then he wrote "If I did it.." to cash on his experience.

Why? Because in this superficial society of ours, there is always an american idiot willing to pay for the book, the movie, whatever.

Rake in the dough!

Isn't Plame any different? Are we expecting her to behave with Altruism, to sit back fully contented with the notion that her victimization, once exposed, shone light on the excesses of our current administration, on the lawlessness, the vindictiveness, the lies that have cost the lives of over 3,000 of our troops? And that perhaps, as a country, we are now better for it, because we can now demand accountability?

Do you expect her to sit back without getting a dime out of it?

Dreamer.

Who gives a damn between right or wrong? Who cares about commutations? That's just a small detail that will determine how the story will end. There is no right or wrong end to the story.

Nothing will be fully "right" until she can cash on it. And make lemonade with the lemons.

"Why? Because in this superficial society of ours, there is always an american idiot willing to pay for the book, the movie, whatever."

I couldnt agree more.

You forgot come home, go straight to the blogdumsphere to none other than "Thy Desk of Patrick Fitzgerald" and start moaning and groaning about it all over again.

Ms Plame has no moral obligation to help others, other than herself which she is doing quite well at right now.

I have no problem with people making a profit from their experiences in life. No problem what so ever. However, there is something to be said when your country is at war (be it right or wrong) and you are trying to make a couple of mill. out of it.

In other words her timing is out.

Way out. Actually all your timing is out.

Figure a way out of Iraq first and crucify Bush and gang later.

Valeeeeerie should wait 15 years or so. A couple of decades and some sort of result in Iraq would make a more interesting story.

Did Valerie Plame commit a crime? Was something done against her? Has she had a chance to tell her side of the story or is this a ploy to keep her silenced? What exactly did Valerie Plame do? Does she know about Iran's program and someone doesn't want her telling?What was Brewster Jennings anyway? Kitty gives herself away, imho.

You mean, like, you want Plame to wait till the war in Iraq is over, so she can then crucify bushco?

That'll be like selling lemonade without ice in the midst of summer! Kinda stale.

You can say her timing is out. But I'm sure her publisher disagree, and is rushing to print, before congress or our next president actually figure out how to bring the troops home. When you are hot, you are hot. She's got a mirror.

Who knows, maybe she intends to distribute that couple of million$ among our Iraq war veterans.

But, nah, she has no moral obligation to help others, and if she did, chances are she wouldn't have the ability to figure that out.

I want to read "Fair Game" She didn't ask for that Kitty, please don't disregard that. It was a purposeful, deliberate 'outing' read the Libby case documentation-its all there

Wilson husband has a right to free speech. He is certainly qualified to speak on this matter, as a former ambassador to the area.

Having loved ones in the military currently, I appreciate all the Wilson's put on the line to get the truth out. Rove/Bush/Cheney have a pattern of deception-they don't care about our soldiers or your freedom.

"Cheney noted that al Qaeda in Iraq was founded by Jordanian Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who previously ran a terror training camp in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The vice president noted Zarqawi entered Iraq "after 9/11," but neglected to mention that it also was not until after the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that Zarqawi began ushering foreign fighters into the country."

Is he the one that supposedly killed Nickolas Berg, the one where citizens took that tape apart frame by frame. Abu Ghraib?

"Having loved ones in the military currently, I appreciate all the Wilson's put on the line to get the truth out. Rove/Bush/Cheney have a pattern of deception-they don't care about our soldiers or your freedom. "

That is why anon. all huffing, puffing, leaking and speaking should be directed to getting those soldiers out asap.

Interesting posts last night...Dubya best hope none of his boys find themselves in a southern Ohio courtroom. Things might get out of hand, some people don't take kindly to being victimized...Victim's father attacks murder defendant in courtroomThe father of a murder victim dived across the defense table, swung at his son's killer and tried to choke him in an eastern Ohio courtroom yesterday before a sheriff and other law enforcement officers pulled the two men apart.

Sweat(the father) was taken to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, where Sheriff Fred Abdalla said he calmed down. Sweat will likely not be charged, Abdalla said.--------Here's your click Secrets of Skull and Bones

"August 06, 2007MONSANTO PATENTS ASSERTED AGAINST AMERICAN FARMERS REJECTED BY PATENT OFFICEThe Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected four key Monsanto patents related to genetically modified crops that PUBPAT challenged last year because the agricultural giant is using them to harass, intimidate, sue - and in some cases literally bankrupt - American farmers. In its Office Actions rejecting each of the patents, the USPTO held that evidence submitted by PUBPAT, in addition to other prior art located by the Patent Office's Examiners, showed that Monsanto was not entitled to any of the patents."

Airlines sue FBI, CIA over Sept. 11In the CIA lawsuit, companies including American Airlines Inc., United Airlines Inc., US Airways Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., Continental Airlines Inc. and The Boeing Co. asked to interview the deputy chief of the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit in 2001 and an FBI special agent assigned to the unit at that time.

In the FBI lawsuit, the companies asked to interview a "limited number of former and current FBI employees" who had participated in investigations of al-Qaida and al-Qaida operatives before and after Sept. 11, 2001.

Government spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said she had no immediate comment on the lawsuits.

Quote: Newsvine - Ex-Ohio Election Workers Get New Trials

New trials? What happens if they can be proven guiltier than before? LOL

He Fan, an official at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, went further yesterday, letting it be known that Beijing had the power to set off a dollar collapse, if it chose to do so.

"China has accumulated a large sum of US dollars. Such a big sum, of which a considerable portion is in US Treasury bonds, contributes a great deal to maintaining the position of the dollar as a reserve currency," he told China Daily. "Russia, Switzerland and several other countries have reduced their dollar holdings. China is unlikely to follow suit as long as the yuan's exchange rate is stable against the dollar.

"The Chinese central bank will be forced to sell dollars once the yuan appreciated dramatically, which might lead to a mass depreciation of the dollar."+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

12:26 Didn't say cookies or sex came without "penalty" heehee I like cookies and they'll do in a pinch. The wild thing with a special someone is preferable-it's more fun & burns calories LOL

Possible tornado downs almost half the trees in a Brooklyn neighborhood Five injured around city, most by falling objects, mayor says More than 3 inches of rain reported in some area Flooding disrupts rail services; air traffic backed up

"Mr. Hernandez was not available to comment on the offer; Ms. Schwartz said he left town for northern Minnesota late on Friday, overwhelmed by the attention and Mr. Hernandez concerned that his co-workers were being overlooked. He spent the weekend fishing. When President Bush’s staff contacted him to request a photo opportunity, “He was just, like, ‘Nope,’ ” she said."

Six antiwar demonstrators were arrested at the Garden Grove office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Santa Ana) this morning, after camping out overnight and telling her they wouldn't leave unless she publicly promised not to approve more funding for the war in Iraq.

Most of the protesters are members of the group Military Families Speak Out. They entered the office about 7 p.m. Tuesday during an open house. They sat on the floor in the lobby and refused to leave unless the congresswoman made the statement they wanted. Sanchez refused.

The lawmaker's staff initially chose not to call police and let the group stay overnight.

Bush seemed a bit subdued in his press conference, while the press appeared to a bit more bold.

With the heat wave and all, everyone should remember our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan (and wherever) in even hotter conditions and the Iraqis without electricity most times, sometimes water, sewage in the street. Everyone's children deserve better.

Harry Potter-style video parody starring Jason Alexander, also known as “George Costanza” on the hit television series Seinfeld. The video “catches on tape” the conservative mastermind orchestrating the Republican obstruction.

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About Me

Think Globally Prosecute Locally
- I grew up in Flatbush, kept my nose clean, went to law school. Now that I am in Chicago and D.C. I have found that the rampant graft and corruption to be a travesty - a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham.
---Favorite quote --- "Conditional love is an oxymoron." - Yours truly